This invention relates generally to an assembly for suspending an object from a surface and, more particularly, to a ball and socket assembly and method for suspending an object, such as a ceiling fan, from a sloped ceiling.
Devices for suspending objects, such as ceiling fans and light fixtures, from ceilings typically include a hanger bracket attached to the surface that engages the object to be hung. The difficulties of mounting such objects from gently sloped ceilings have been improved through the use of hanger brackets that have a socket that engages a ball member on the top of a down rod to form a ball and socket joint. The lower end of the down rod, in turn, engages the object to be hung. This mounting scheme allows the down rod to pivot in the hanger bracket so that the object may hang downward despite the plain of the ceiling being slightly sloped.
A common configuration for such devices is to have a gap in the socket of an appropriate width such that the down rod can pass through the gap when mounting the ball member in the socket. Other hanger ball systems have no gap in the socket. With those systems, the down rod passes through from the top of the socket, and the rod is then attached to the fixture below. The configuration with the gap is typically used because it allows for convenient mounting of objects for installation purposes and unmounting of objects for purposes such as servicing the objects. But with this configuration, the greater the angle of the ceiling, the more likely the ball member is to pivot in the hanger bracket permitting the down rod to pass through the gap and the object to fall. Another problem is that as the ball member pivots in the socket, the down rod comes to rest against the bracket prohibiting the bracket and ball member assembly from being used on ceilings having a slope greater than about 30 degrees The present invention addresses these shortcomings in the prior art.